Do you think you aren’t ready to do teleseminars or webinars, because “you don’t have anything to sell”?
Do you think you need to have a product to sell something when you do a teleseminar or webinar?
Do you wonder what to offer people from your service-based business when you do a teleseminar or webinar?
Are you still confused by the conflicting opinions on margarine vs. butter?
We get these questions a lot! (and we have answers for the first three). I know it must seem confusing – we see all the “biggies” out there offering high-ticket, low-ticket, (and in-between-ticket) items from their teleseminars. They do their talk, they make their offer, and people buy stuff. The point is – the have the systems, courses, blueprints, how-to’s, and programs that they built and now sell, and you don’t.
Didn’t your mom teach you anything? It doesn’t MATTER what so-and-so does, what matters is that you do what I tell you. Wait…no, that wasn’t it. Ah, it was: If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too? Point: just use what you have. You can do your own thing, and that’s cool…you don’t have to be like them.
SO – if you have a service-based business, or think you don’t have anything to “offer” because what you do isn’t a “click-to-buy” setup, here are three things you can offer at the end of your teleseminar or webinar:
1. Free consultation. This is a straight up, standard, tell-me-your-problems-and-I’ll-tell-you-how-my-business-can-help-you-and-how-much-it-will-cost conversation. The offer sounds like: “If you want to talk to us, call us, go to our website, or otherwise contact us. We’ll give you a free consultation! Take as many of these as you can get.
2. Discovery session. This is a wee-bit different than the free consultation, and sounds way better. We call it a “discovery session” (or assessment, or something similar), because the point of the conversation is to see where people are stuck, what’s holding them back, or to “discover” something they don’t know or realize. You help them realize the dichotomy between where they are, and where they could be. By getting into a deeper conversation with a potential buyer, you can help them to see how their life would be different with you by their side. It’s a more “gentle sell” than a standard free consultation.
The thing about discovery sessions, is that they tend to take longer than free consultations, so you want to limit these to people who are a good fit, and who are ready to actually discover what it is, they need to discover. (i.e.: I once offered Productivity Assessments after one of my teleseminars, and when asked on a scale of 1-10 how serious someone was about growing their business, one person answered “4”. So, it was better to spend my time talking with the several “10’s” that came in.)
Tip: You can assess a person’s “readiness” by offering a short survey before you open your calendar to them.
3. Mini-session – A mini-session is where you can offer a free trial, or demo, of the services you offer. Like – a free month in a membership program; a free website assessment; a “laser”, or mini coaching session; a free hour or two of service; or a trial run of one of your programs.
Depending on what you offer, you may want to offer a limited number of these free things. You may consider qualifying people for the free sessions (again, depending on what you do…) so that you get the right people who can benefit the most from your services.
So there you have it – three things to offer without having to have a big deal, high-ticket, shiny click-to-buy product.
Aren’t you glad you didn’t jump off the bridge?
Tell me in the comments: How do you position your offer? What have you done when you didn’t offer a “click-to-buy” product? Or, what do you think makes the most sense to try?